Duterte made the statement in Cebu over the weekend, following China’s announcement that it has landed strategic bombers on an outpost in the South China Sea.

“China has offered for a joint – someday we will talk about it. Di man ta kinahanglan mag-away. Bahin ta (We don’t have to fight. We can divide this in a), joint development, joint exploration,” Duterte said.

Duterte reiterated that going to war against China would only result to the deaths of a lot of police and soldiers, especially now with China’s different facilities and infrastructure in the disputed waters.

“Well, you know they have the planes, not stationed in Spratly but near the provinces facing – Chinese provinces facing the Spratly and the China Sea. And with their hypersonic, they can reach Manila within 7 to 10 minutes. Og makig giyera gyud sila’g full blown war, asa man ta puniton (If we will go to a full-blown war, where would Philippines end up in)?” he said.

The President also said that the Philippines does not even have enough resources to wage a war against the Asian giant.

“Alam mo, ‘pag pinilit mo, there will be trouble. Unsa may atong itrubo, magsinagpaay ta diha? (You know, if we push it, there will be trouble. What will we arm ourselves with if there’s a war? Will we resort to slapping each other)?” Duterte said.

Baw-an nimo, sa kagamay nato, wa tay – wa man gani koy rifles ngadto, mupalit ko – gihatag. Unya makig gyera na hinuon ta sa Intsik (You know, based on how few we are – I couldn’t even buy myself a rifle. It was given to me. So how will we even fight with the Chinese)?” he added.

China assistance

Duterte said that it was China that offered assistance to the Philippines and not America.

“Ang America ra may naguol nga nawad-an sila’g teritoryo. P**** kamo’y ga una eh (And then we’ll give you a bigger share rather than fight. It’s only America who’s worried because they lost a territory). I was just new then you adopted the rascal’s propaganda,” he added.

Diplomacy eases tension

Meanwhile in Hawaii, senior Philippine official told the United States that the “deliberate and nuanced diplomacy” espoused by the Duterte Administration on the South China Sea issue had helped ease tensions, resulted in economic gains and opened the potential to explore oil and gas in the area.

This was the position conveyed by a delegation of senior Philippine officials during their high-level discussions with outgoing United States Pacific Command (PACOM) chief Admiral Harry Harris, Jr. in Hawaii on Saturday (yesterday morning in Manila).

“On the South China Sea, the Philippine Delegation underscored that the deliberate and nuanced diplomacy by the Duterte Administration had lowered tensions in the region and resulted in clear economic gains for the Philippines in terms of access to marine resources, protection of the marine ecology, and the potential to explore oil and gas resources,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

It said that the high-level delegation led by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea had productive discussions on critical regional and international issues with Harris and the commanders of all PACOM service components.

PH-US mutual defense reaffirmed

Also in the meeting, officials from the two countries have reaffirmed their firm resolve to bolster their enduring alliance anchored on common values and interest, historic ties and the Mutual Defense Treaty.

“The Philippine Delegation had a very substantive exchange with Admiral Harris on regional challenges and both sides agreed that the alliance remains consequential to the preservation of regional stability and development,” the foreign affairs office said.

While Harris congratulated the Philippines on its decisive victory in the Marawi siege, the Philippine Delegation expressed its gratitude for Washington’s “strong support” which it said was instrumental in the successful campaign against the militants.

The DFA said both sides agreed on the need to work more closely together, including in the exchange of information, in the fight against terrorism and in countering violent extremism.

Harris has led the PACOM since May 2015 and has actively worked to strengthen Philippine-US security relations including through his role as the co-chair of the

Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board.

The PACOM commander visited the Philippines in August last year and met with President Duterte at Malacañang where they discussed U.S. support to the Philippine government’s efforts to end the Marawi conflict, interoperability between the Philippines-U.S. two militaries, and other regional threats.

Senators’ condemnation

However, two opposition senators urged the President yesterday to raise the issue of China’s continuing militarization in the West Philippine Sea before the United Nations General Assembly to bolster the Philippines’ sovereignty over the islands.

Senators Franklin Drilon and Risa Hontiveros both condemned the latest landing of the H-6k bomber on Woody Island in the Paracel group in the Spratlys, as well as China’s missile deployment and building up of military assets in the disputed sea.

“I condemn the continuous violation of the arbitration award of the international tribunal; the very aggressive stance. You know, we should be very careful here. We are asserting our sovereignty …but lately, China is there and you can already say they are occupying part of Philippine territory,” Drilon said in an interview over Radio DZBB.

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, likewise, joined the opposition lawmakers’ call and urged the Duterte government to file a protest against China’s militarization on the West Philippine Sea, saying this is not consistent with their “friendly approach” to the Philippine government.

“I’ve been an ally of the President from the very start, but I am not in favor of what is being done to our territories. If China is truly a real friend as they claim to be, they should stop taking over territories that are ours,” Ejercito said, also in a separate Radio DZBB interview

‘Campaign vs China’

“If we do not campaign against China, then we could expect them to meddle in our elections. The question at the back of peoples’ minds now would be, will China now interfere with how we choose our leaders? So we should protect our sovereignty. Let us continue in asserting our sovereign rights,” the Senate minority leader added.

“A review of our bilateral relationship with China is in order. We can’t call a country that robs us of our islands and threatens us with nuclear war a friend,” Hontiveros, on the other hand, said in a statement.

“By placing our country within striking distance of its nuclear-capable bombers, China has virtually threatened us with nuclear war over the West Philippine Sea. This is unacceptable,” she further said.

“This is a serious threat to the lives of our citizens, an assault on our Constitution and a direct violation of internationally-recognized treaties to which we are a signatory,” added Hontiveros.

Senate stand

And with a looming leadership change in the Senate, Drilon and Ejercito said they hope that the new Senate President, reportedly with Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III at the helm, would take a firm stand on the China issue as “a foreign policy partner of the President.”

“This is a challenge to the new leadership: we must assert the Senate’s role in foreign relations,” Drilon said.

“We should assert our sovereignty, not by waging a war against China – we cannot do that – but in other fora, we should be able to continue our campaign in order that we can retrieve those islands that have been occupied by China,” the minority chief added.

“This is a challenge to the new leadership: we must assert the Senate’s role in foreign relations. We must condemn this creeping invasion of our territory and sovereignty. Sa akin po, importante ito, (To me, this is very important),” he said.